Leroy Street Studio (LSS) has developed a “horizontal” practice focused on architecture, community design, construction management, and interior design. Inspired by the expressive nature of building, LSS pursues intensive research into local construction techniques, systems, and materials, while rigorously examining the physical, social, and environmental context of each project.

Hands-on client involvement during all stages of the design process results in the seamless integration of aesthetics with the practical concerns of program, context, performance, maintenance, and sustainability. This philosophy of engagement is further underscored in LSS’s founding of Hester Street Collaborative, a non-profit design/build workshop that addresses the needs of those who do not have access to design services by working with the community to improve their public spaces.

LSS intensely believes that successful buildings and spaces give a voice to end-users by engaging both the hand and mind—a process that extends through design and construction to the life and experience of the building.

Leroy Street Studio was founded by Morgan Hare and Marc Turkel in 1995. Shawn Watts joined the practice in 1997 and became a partner in 2005.